


Dalliance and Dust

by grantairess



Category: Adam (2009), Death Stranding (Video Games), Hannibal Extended Universe - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Nightmares, No Spoilers, Tentacles, dream - Freeform, throwing up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:07:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21549613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grantairess/pseuds/grantairess
Summary: “I’m sorry.” Adam wasn’t sure why he was apologizing, but he felt like he shocked the creature. Even if he really couldn’t see his face. Again it was a feeling that he really wasn’t sure about. “This is a dream, and I don’t know what I’m doing here. You are supposed to only dream about things you have seen before, but I have never seen this place. I have never seen you before. I guess it could just be my mind playing with me and the darkness in my room, but honestly, this place feels more unfamiliar than any new place that I have ever been too. Where are all the trees? And why is the ground dead like this? It’s all very strange.”
Relationships: Adam Raki/Cliff Unger
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31
Collections: MonthlyRareMeat





	1. Fuzzy Dreams

Adam’s been having nightmares. 

He’s never really had nightmares before, maybe as a child, he did. He can remember being upset about going to sleep, being angry and throwing things. But once he got to sleep he was actually very calm about it. 

  
He loved sleep now, loved his weighted blanket and the clean smell of his room. He had no reason to be upset once he was in bed, he got to get up in the morning and go to work. So he enjoyed his night. Adam enjoyed the clean sheets and the act of sleeping. His dreams were not really anything, he doesn’t remember them. So they are mostly unimportant, and something else he doesn’t understand when people talk about them. 

So, the nightmares are new. The first one he didn’t remember very well. 

It was just dark, and he was so tired. He didn’t even try to get up. He could feel the grass under his hands, but it was dead. It wasn’t like the soft stuff he would sit in when he went to the park. It was dead, and the air didn’t smell like the cleanliness in his room. It smelled rotten and horrible. When he woke up he was covered in sweat and was heavily breathing. 

He felt his heart beating heavily in his chest and he had to walk to the bathroom on shaking legs. He didn’t make it to the toilet, throwing up heavily into the sink. What came out of his stomach was dark, almost black. He had to sit on the ground for a few minutes. He wasn’t sure what black stomach bile meant and spent an hour googling it before he called his doctor. When he went to the doctor they told him that he was perfectly fine and that it probably wasn’t as dark as he was thinking it was. That may be the room was dark. 

Even though Adam wanted to argue he couldn’t really, because he was so out of sorts with what had happened. Things like that didn’t happen to him, and he was uncomfortable without an explanation of what was wrong with him. The doctor gave him some medication and told him to take a few days off work to see if he could find some time to relax. 

He tried, spending his days studying the stars and trying to exhaust himself. He read somewhere that was one way to tire himself so he wouldn’t have nightmares. He feared having this nightmare more than he had ever feared anything in his life. 

~~~

He fell asleep two nights into his week off. The first night he was able to stay up, focused on his telescope. 

Falling asleep this time literally felt like falling. He could feel himself losing control of his limbs, and landing on the hard ground. It should have hurt even though it didn’t for some reason. Opening his eyes, Adam looks around confused to not see the darkness of his room. His blankets were gone, and all his pillows. The only thing that was around him was darkness. He puts his hand down to lift himself up to see if he could find something else around him. The dead grass crinkled under his hand. It felt so real, though Adam was sure this was a dream. He was in his bed a moment ago. 

Standing up, Adam is decided he will explore as much as he can. At the very least, maybe he will discover something in his dream. Standing up, he notices that he is fully nude, the dead grass rough underneath his feet. He felt the need to cover himself, but there was nobody else around so that really didn’t matter. He takes a few steps, and he sees something light up in front of him. Adam takes off at a run scared that the light will go out again. 

When Adam gets closer, maybe twenty feet away from the light he sees that it is a fire. Adam slows down, nervous. The fire was made, which means there is another person in this dream. The thought is scary because he can’t imagine who else would be in his dream. He can barely imagine who else would be in his head. 

He sees a dark blur around the fire, and Adam wished he had somewhere to hide. The fact that this was his dream wasn’t giving him any control of the situation at all. The blur was big and seemed to blend into the darkness of the world around them. 

Adam stepped on something, the soft crunch making the thing turn his head to him. Or, what Adam would guess was its face. When he looked at it, he wasn’t filled with the fear that he was expecting to be filled with. He was filled with something else. An emotion that he had never experienced before and was unsure of what it was. 

“I’m sorry.” Adam wasn’t sure why he was apologizing, but he felt like he shocked the creature. Even if he really couldn’t see his face. Again it was a feeling that he really wasn’t sure about. “This is a dream, and I don’t know what I’m doing here. You are supposed to only dream about things you have seen before, but I have never seen this place. I have never seen you before. I guess it could just be my mind playing with me and the darkness in my room, but honestly, this place feels more unfamiliar than any new place that I have ever been too. Where are all the trees? And why is the ground dead like this? It’s all very strange.” 

The thing does not answer but does move away from his small fire to walk up to Adam. From the different angles of the light, Adam could see different things. The thing had tentacle shapes coming off of it, and in the middle of it, he could almost see the shape of a man. 

Adam still wasn’t scared of him. He was more scared of the place that he had found himself in. When the thing doesn’t seem to speak, Adam starts tapping out a rhythm on his thigh, nervousness thrumming through his veins. He wished he could wake up. 

“Can you show me how to wake up? I’m not really sure how too. And if I made you up, maybe I can actually get something to work out for me here.” The thing seems amused by him somehow and turns walking away. When Adam doesn’t follow, one of the tentacles comes and grabs his wrist, dragging him along. “Oh, thank you.” Adam follows him, the tentacle never releases from his wrist as he follows him. 

They walked for what seemed like miles, but Adam’s feet do not hurt. He doesn’t feel tired or hungry. It was the weirdest thing about the dream world because it seemed so real. The feeling of the thing touching him was the realist thing he had ever felt but things like tired or hungry didn’t seem to exist here. Adam was so lost in his thoughts about this that he barely felt it when he walked into the thing. It was like he was real, but he felt like what Adam imagined what smoke would feel like if you could touch it. 

“Why are we…” Adam could feel something tingling up his arm, and the thing turned back to look at him. Adam searches for its face. He was unable to find it, and he starts to feel himself quickly fade away. “Thank you...I don’t-”

Adam jerks awake in bed and has to run to the bathroom to throw up in the toilet. The black gunk that comes out of him takes so much out of him that he has to lie down on the floor. 

~~~


	2. Chapter 2

_ My Lucifer is lonely~ _

Adam was afraid to sleep. He didn’t know how to tell anybody (who was he going to tell? It’s not like he could call Beth and tell her about the strange nightmare.) He wasn’t one to believe in anything supernatural. It was too abstract for him. 

But that nightmare was very realistic. It was almost more real than his day to day life. He could still smell the air, and feel the dead grass under his fingers. He wanted to know who he met there. Was it a person?

He had even started researching dreams, just to see if science could explain what was happening. But he hadn’t figured anything out yet. Nothing in any of the books could explain what he saw in his dreams. 

After two days of staying up, he finally had to accept the fact that he had to get some rest. He had almost fallen asleep at work, and the walk home was terrible. He found himself lying down before dinner, throwing off his whole routine but he was exhausted. 

  
Maybe the dream was a one-time thing, and he should stop being afraid of something that didn’t happen in real life. 

Curling into a small ball, he finally lets himself get some rest. It wouldn’t happen this time. He would be fine. Repeating that to himself he finally falls asleep. He had a few minutes of rest before he rolls over and finds himself blanket less and on top of hard dead grass. Shooting up from the grass; the first thing he notices is the world is brighter than it was last time he was here. 

Looking around, Adam can’t see anything. There are no trees, just a vast land of dead grass for as long as he can see. Sighing, Adam starts walking. He wants nothing more to find his way home again. He felt self-conscious being nude in the light, even though there was nobody around. 

He walks for what feels like miles before he comes along a hill that has a small cave on the side of it. He wasn’t cold or tired, but he feels like he should stop walking for a while. Sitting in a cave for a while, maybe he could plan out what his next step was. 

Walking into the cave it was dark, and Adam was nervous. He knew bears were in caves. Maybe even bats. But he hasn’t seen another living thing since that thing he met in his last dream… So he was probably safe right?

He doesn’t walk in to far, he still wanted to see his exit. But he sits down, closing his eyes as he leans against the cave wall. The ground was rich and wet, and Adam lets himself sink his fingers into. The texture was so real. 

“What are you doing here?” Adam jumps so high at the sound of the voice that he almost hits his head on the small cave. Looking around panicked for the source of the voice he comes upon a man ten feet deeper into the cave. The man’s face is barely lit up from the light that is peeking into the cave. Adam could barely make out his face, even though he can see sharp cheekbones. 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know anybody was here. I’m lost.” The man steps closer, and he has to tilt his head down to avoid hitting his head. The cave must get taller the more a person goes in. Adam frowns at him, and wonders if he should run. It was his dream though, it’s not like anybody in his dream would hurt him? 

“You sure are. Do you know where you are?” This man's voice was accented, but clear. The closer he got, the more Adam could make out what he was wearing. He had an outfit like a soldier would wear, though his outfit was torn up and dirty. He was taller than Adam, or he would be if they stood next to each other. 

“I have no idea. Can you help me?” Adam wanted to get out of the cave. He wanted to get out of this world, he wanted to go back home. He wants to wake up in his bed and forget all about these dreams. 

The man frowns, before nodding gesturing him forward. Adam follows him. It’s not like head much choice, there was nowhere else to go. 

It was the logical decision. 

~~~~ 

Adam finds himself covered in a blanket, with a fire going in the middle of where the man lives. The fire rages in front of him, the cave warm. He didn’t even notice he was cold until he wasn’t anymore. 

“Don’t tell me your name.” The man's voice was soft when he says it, and he sits across from Adam. He had a small bowl in his hands, and Adam could feel himself growl. “If this place knows what your name is you’ll be trapped.” Adam frowns at this and looks down at the fire. The fire was warm, and Adam wishes he was asleep. 

“Where am I?” 

“I don’t have a good answer to that.” The man’s voice was low when he says it and when Adam looks up he is staring at him. “I’ve forgotten.” Adam looks down at his hands, feeling anxiety thrum through his veins. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Why do you apologize?” Adam blinks up at him and shrugs slightly. 

“It must be horrible, by yourself in this place.” 

“It’s not nice. I think I used to be here with other people.” The man looks sad but stands up to turn away from Adam quickly. Adam needs to figure out how to get out of here, or he’s going to be stuck like this man is. 

“It must be lonely.” Adam understood lonely, his father dying. His mother dying. The empty quiet of his house. Beth leaving. Everybody in his life has left, and when he made eye contact with the man across from him he felt like they understood each other. 

The man shakes his head, something somber and sad in his eyes but he stands up. “You have to leave. You can’t stay here. The longer you stay the more it attaches itself to you. Follow me.” The man’s voice was stern, and he throws dirt on the fire to put it out. The cave goes dark around him and the man grabs his hand making him stand up. 

The man doesn’t let go of his hand as he walks him. Adam can’t see where they are going, but they do not have to duck to leave the cave. So they must be walking deeper into the cave. 

“You should leave too. You don’t have to stay here.” The man lets out a low laugh. 

“I’m trapped here for the rest of my life. It’s nobody’s fault but my own, so don’t feel bad about it. This is my punishment.” 

“Nobody deserves this.” The man stops, turning around cupping Adam’s face. A similar feeling was starting up Adam’s back. He was about to wake up. The man leans forward close enough that his breath spread across Adam’s face. His lips touch Adam’s, and they feel like fire. 

“Thank you.” 

~~~ 

Adam feels himself waking up, throwing up before he can get out of bed the black goo getting all over his bed. Adam heaves a few times trying to make sure it’s all out of him before he stands up and strips his bed. He’s so exhausted he lays back in bed with no sheets or a blanket and falls asleep. This time he falls asleep peacefully, the only thought in his mind the man’s lips against his. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So this is vaguely based on the game, that I have not finished yet so. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine to read if you didn't play/watch the game. 
> 
> Also this should be up and finished by the 30th, but I'm also a mess so who knows.  
> Tags will be added as I update! 
> 
> You can find me on twitter @grantairess


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